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Last week, Governor Cuomo signed into law a bill to amend the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (“CPLR”) to extend the statute of limitations to six years for financial fraud claims brought under the Martin Act.  One of the strongest blue sky laws in the country, New York’s Martin Act gives wide latitude to the state’s Attorney General to investigate and prosecute financial fraud, both criminally and civilly.  The statute is a particularly useful weapon in the state’s arsenal, as it does not require the Attorney General to prove scienter, or fraudulent intent, in order to prevail.
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (“JPMorgan”), the largest U.S. bank based on assets, has agreed to pay a $264 million fine to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) investigations into its preferential hiring program. The program, known internally as the Sons & Daughters Program, was created by investment bankers at its subsidiary, JPMorgan Securities Asia Pacific…

On November 4, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) and the Agricultural Bank of China agreed to a Consent Order requiring the bank to pay a $215 million penalty and to install an independent monitor to review the bank’s program for compliance with anti-money laundering laws (“AML”), including the Bank Secrecy Act…

With all the news surrounding the SEC’s headline-grabbing prosecution of Lynn Tilton and her firm, Patriarch Partners LLC, it is easy to miss the insurance coverage element of the case.  It is no secret that in recent years, and particularly following the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, the SEC has dedicated more resources…

On October 21, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) opened an investigation into six Chinese companies for alleged fraud relating to initial public offerings (“IPOs”).  The six companies under investigation are (1) Longbao Ginseng & Antler Co. (“Longbao”), a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company; (2) Guangdong Guangzhou Daily Media Co., an advertising firm; (3) Ingenious Ene-Carbon…

On August 8, Barclays Bank PLC and Barclays Capital Inc. (collectively “Barclays”) reached a $100 million settlement to resolve a 44-state multistate investigation that exposed Barclays’ fraudulent and anticompetitive schemes to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) from 2005 to 2009.  The investigation, led by Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York and…

A Connecticut-based trading firm filed a class action lawsuit against 25 large banks, alleging they used their “privileged position” as primary dealers to collude to artificially depress the auction prices of U.S. Treasury securities at the expense of the Treasury and secondary market participants.  According to the complaint, the plaintiff, Torus Capital, LLC, performed a…

On July 7, the Southwark Crown Court in London sentenced four former Barclays traders to prison sentences, ranging from just under three years to six and a half years, for their involvement in a conspiracy to manipulate the London InterBank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) between 2005 and 2007.  This trial was the third in Britain to…

Two former Deutsche Bank traders accused of manipulating the London InterBank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) were indicted by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) on June 2, 2016. Dubbed “the world’s most important number,” LIBOR is a benchmark for global short-term interest rates that underpins trillions of dollars in mortgages and other debt. The case against the…

On April 14, the Department of Justice charged the supervisor of Ramapo, New York (the city’s top elected official), and the former executive director of the Ramapo Local Development Corp. with criminal securities fraud for allegedly defrauding thousands of municipal bond investors.  The charges relate to alleged misstatements and omissions made about Ramapo’s financial condition…